Text: II Kings 2:12-15
12: Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The Chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his clothes and tore them apart.
13: He picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of Jordan.
14: Then he took the cloak that had fallen from him and struck the water with it. “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” he asked, when he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.
15: The Company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching said, “The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha” And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him (New International Version)
Two characters are in focus here: Elijah and Elisha. I will start with Elijah who happened to be the master of Elisha. Elijah is a study of the manifestations of the power of God.
He emerged on the scene at a time of idolatry in the land of Israel in the reign of Ahab who had a wicked wife, Jezebel. In I Kings 17:1, he appeared before King Ahab with a declaration of impending doom. He said, “As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”
God’s power was manifested when he was directed to hide in a brook, east of Jordan where ravens brought food to him. The display of God’s power is so awesome such that he made birds to take food to Elijah.
God was not done with the prophet. Even when the brook dried up, God sent him to the widow of Zarepath. Through him, the power of God manifested in a manner the word, poverty was deleted from the dictionary of the widow’s existence.
The power of God was in action when He used Elijah to raise from the dead, the son of the widow.
On Mount Carmel, Elijah, confident of the power of God challenged 850 false prophets that included 450 Baal prophets and 400 prophets of Asherah to show down. He was able to deal deadly blow against the evil of false gods.
After the elimination of the false prophets, he went into the desert to avoid Jezebel who had threatened his life for the destruction brought on her false prophets. Again, God came with the manifestation of His power by sending an angel to go and feed him. It was in the strength of the food that Elijah journeyed for forty days and nights to Mount Horeb.
The defining moment of his life came when he was taken into heaven in a whirlwind in II Kings 2:12. After Jesus Christ and Enoch, Elijah was the other person in the scripture taken into heaven.
In the case of Elisha, I Kings 19:19-21, tells us about his background. That Elisha was a farmer; he was on the farm when Elijah came to him. Among the three people that God directed, Elijah to anoint in I Kings 19: 15-17, Elisha was the last in the order of their appointment. First person was Hazael King over Aram and Jehu as King over Israel. Elisha who came last in that order was God’s choice as Elijah’s successor.
As the mantle fell on Elisha, he received the Spirit of God as he requested. He did what he had never done before. The Spirit of God in him brought out the power of God in the parting of River Jordan. When he came back with the power of God as he had never possessed it before, the men of the city came to bow down before him. II Kings 2:15.
In those days of the power of God in the ministry of Elisha, men of the city approached him to help in finding solution to the unproductive nature of their land. Infact, God used him in providing healing to the land. Hear him in II Kings 2:21-22, “Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, this is what the Lord says: I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive. And the water has remained wholesome to this day, according to the word Elisha has spoken.” What a power propelled utterance!
Taking him for an ordinary man, some youths of the area jeered at him as a bald headed man. Wild beasts from surrounding bush came out and killed forty two of them.
In II Kings 4: 3-6, the power of God in Elisha caused him to bless a widow who was heavily indebted. The blessing was such that her oil jar kept increasing until she was able to make much sale from which she was able to pay off the whole debt.
In II Kings 4: 32-36, God gave him the power to bring back the life the son of the Shunammite woman. In II Kings 5, it was Elisha who directed Naaman, the Commander of the Syrian Army who was leprous to the River Jordan where he experienced miraculous healing.
With all the extra-ordinary and supernatural exploits of these men of God, the Holy Bible says this about Elijah in James 5: 17-18, “Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the land for three and half years. Again he prayed and the heavens gave him rain and the earth produced its crops”.
Just as it was with Elijah and Elisha, we can make heavens to respond with power to our request provided we are able to consider the following steps in our Christian journey.
1. HEAVENLY RECOGNIZED NAME: The name, Elijah in Hebrew means MY GOD JEHOVAH IS HE. In Luke 16: 14-31, the parable of the rich man and Lazarus shows that while the rich man was known on earth by his worldly possessions, he was not godly. So his name was not known in heaven. But the poor man, Lazarus who was godly had his name known in heaven. Some years back, I visited a public officer in his office and a call came on his mobile phone. He gave the call to his Personal Assistant to pick. When I asked for the reason for not picking it himself, his response was that he was not inclined to picking calls of people whose names are not in his phone memory. Your name must be on the record book of heaven for you to be able to connect with God for answer to come for your request.
2. NOBLE BIRTH: Elijah was a Tishbite from Gilead. He was born in a region known for its Balm, which is soothing and provide relief from pain and aches. Irrespective of your place of birth, one needs a new birth in the Lord Jesus Christ. Being born again in Christ is a noble birth- II Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come”. A new birth makes one a child of God. A child is confident enough to approach his father for every need. God, a caring father is always ready to listen and grant the request of his children.
3. PRAYER: When Elijah spoke before King Ahab of the verdant of God which had grave consequences for Israel, he was sure of himself. His reputation and integrity would have been called into question, if the message about the rain had not come to pass. However, he was not speaking of himself, he spoke of the message he had received from God. Elijah was not a rain maker, he was a man who had unbroken communication with God. He was a man who gave himself to ceaseless praying. He had contact with God who has power over rain. God listens to prayer that comes from sincere and pure heart. Psalm 66:18 says, “If I had cherished sin in my heart the Lord would not have listened”.
4. STANDING OUT FROM THE CROWD: In II Kings1, when King Ahaziah had suffered injury from a fall, he sent messengers to seek for a way out from an idol. But God sent Elijah to inform the messengers of the death that would come to the King from the injury. When the King was told of the message, he demanded to know the man from whose mouth the verdict came. II Kings 1:8, the messengers gave the description, “He was a man with a garment of hair and with a leather belt around his waist”. Immediately, King Ahaziah recognized that the personality so described was no other than Elijah. He was described in simple term, not flamboyant, and yet the King knew him.
Paul in II Timothy2:4, says “No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs. He wants to please his commanding officer”. Elijah was not part of the crowd, he stood out for God. Christians are soldiers in the service of God. To acquire power from God, there must not be entanglement with worldly pursuit. The American Special Forces known as the SEAL killed the world’s most wanted man in May 2011. They got the power to carry out the assignment having submitted themselves to rigorous training under tough conditions. They were men who were set apart from worldly pleasure for the purpose of victory. Every Christian is in battle against Heaven’s Most Wanted Man- Satan. It is needful for us to demonstrate zeal, discipline, commitment and spiritual agility that will make way for victory. Ephesians 6:10-11, states that, “Finally brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the mighty power. Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes”. In I Samuel 17: 38-47, David chose to use the right armour for the battle against Goliath the Philistine. Saul intended to assets him with battle armour but David could not use them because he had never been in the Military. He was a shepherd boy. In I Samuel 17:39, David told King Saul with courtesy that he was not accustomed to them.
5. DOING AWAY WITH THE DIRTY PAST: Elisha, in I Kings 19:21 answered the call to follow the Prophet Elijah. It is remarkable to note that a farmer, though a decent occupation, Elisha was able to kill his animals and burn the farm implements for a higher and noble calling. The power of God dwells with individuals who do cling to him without fear and distraction.
It is imperative to have the power of God demonstrated every day of our existence as Christians. Therefore, we must be wary of what I call, Affidavit Ministry. I have an illustration for this: a young lady went through the rigour of university education and came out in flying colours. At the convocation ceremony, she carted away many awards as the best graduating student. She got her certificate and was mobilized to serve her fatherland for a mandatory one year as it is the policy for fresh graduates to undertake the exercise in Nigeria. One night as she was fast asleep, there was an outbreak of fire which gutted her apartment. All her credentials were completely burned. After the sad development. She went to the court to make sworn affidavit for the burnt documents. When she was through with the national service, she had to apply for employment with the affidavit. Anywhere she was requested to present her credentials; it was the affidavit that took the place of the real documents. So it is with many who have lost the original power and now they operate in the shadow.
The power of God as it was in the days of old, is still very much present today with those who trust in God. To receive power of God, it is important to stand before God by allowing the Holy Spirit to dwell in us, just as our Lord Jesus Christ promised in Acts of Apostles 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of all the earth”.